Benjamin C. Bradlee (1921 - 2014)
Biography Chevalier Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee was born on 26 Aug 1921 in Boston, Suffolk County Massachusetts, USA to Frederick Josiah Bradlee, Jr. (1892 - 1970) and Chevalier Josephine de Gersdorff (1896 - 1975) and died on 21 Oct 2014 at his home in Georgetown, Washington, DC, USA. He married on 20 Oct 1970 in Washington, DC, USA to Sally Sterling Quinn, (b. 1941). He first went to Dexter then in 193 graduated from St. Mark's; 1942, gaduated from Harvard, married his first wife Jean Saltonstall and joined the navy. Military In 1942, two hours after he graduated college he joined the Office of Naval Intellegence as a communications officer. Battles; 4 May to May 8, 1942, Battle of the Coral Sea; 1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal; 1944, Second Battle of Guam; 1943, Battle of Vella Lavella 23-26 Oct, 1944 Battle of Letey Gulf; 1945 Bougainville Campaing. Occupation In 1946 he co founded the New Hampshire Sunday News; sold the paper in 1948 to William Loeb III; 1951, became the pess attache for the American embassy in Paris; 1952, joined the US Information and Education Exchange (USIE) where he would broadcast the CIA-directed European propaganda which lead to the controversial spying and executoin of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in Jun 1953; 1954 joined Newsweek as a foreign correspondentds, had a contreversial interivew with the secret anti-French Algerian guerilla fighters led to his band from France; 1959 he met with Sen. John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie which led to their friendship until the 1963 JFK's assination; 1961 became bureau chief of News Week; 1965 he became mannaging editor of News Week, a position wiich he held until 1965; 1968 he became Editor-in-chief of the Washington Post until 1991 when he becme the Vice President. Lineage Nathan Bradley I (1631 - 1701) m. Mary Evans (1640 - 1711) Nathan Bradley, Jr. (1674 - 1750) m. Lydia Harden (1684 - 1752) Constable Samuel Bradlee (1706 - 1768) m. Mary Andrus (1700 - 1752) Josiah Bradlee I (1754 - 1798) m. Hannah Putnam (1758 - 1793) Josiah Bradlee, Jr. (1776 - 1860) m. Lucy Hall (1782 - 1816) Frederic Hall Bradlee I (1807 - 1886) m. Lucretia Wainwright (1810 - 1886) Josiah Bradlee III (1837 - 1902) m. Alice Crowninshield (1839 - 1926) Frederick Josiah Bradlee I (1866 - 1951) m. Elizabeth Whitwell Thomas (1868 - 1952) Frederick Josiah Bradlee, Jr. (1892 - 1970) m. Chevalier Josephine de Gersdorff (1896 - 1975) Chevalier Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (1921 - 2014) m. Sally Sterling Quinn (1941 - ) Quinn Josiah Crowninshield Bradlee (1982 - ) Notable Ancestors American Bradlee was born to Frederick Josiah "Be" Bradlee and Josephine de Gersdorff, who recieved a knight hood from the French Government and became Chevaliere Josephine de Gersdorff. Benjamin C. Bradlee's maternal great grandmother was Caroline Choate of Boston, Massachusetts, who had three famouse brothers, William Gardner Choate, Joseph Hodges Choate and Charles Francis Choate, all whom graduated from Harvard. Benjamin's paternal 2nd great grandfather was Josiah Bradlee III who married Alice Crowninshield of the Boston Brahmin Crowninshield family. The Crowninshield's immigrant ancestor immigrated to Salem, Massachusetts in 1680. Notable Ancestors American Connecticut * Deacon William Douglas (1610-1682), church elder and leader * Gov. Col. John Haynes (1594-c1653), 5th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1st Governor of the Colony of Connecticut * Gov. George Wyllys (1590-1645), 4th Governor of the Colony of Connecticut New Hampshire * Gov. Benning Wentworth (1696-1770), last Royal Governor of the Provence of New Hampshire * Lt. Gov. John Wentworth (1671-1730) , 1st Lieutenant Governor of the Provence New Hampshire * William Wentworth (1615-1697), a pilgrim father of New Hampshire, saw mill proprietor, church elder Rhode Island * John Greene (c1594-1658), one of the 12 original proprietors of Providence, co-founder of Warwick, Rhode Island, Warwick Deputy to the Rhode Island General Court, in 1656 he was the Magistrate for the Rhode Island General Court of Trials * John Greene, Jr. (1620-1708), 14th Attorney General of Rhode Island, 14th Deputy Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Massachusetts * Charles Apthorp, Gent. (1698-1758), a commissary and paymaster for of the British military. * Frederick Josiah Bradlee, Jr. (1892-1970), on the first All-American football team, which was at Harvard, Director of the Boston Bank * William Gardner Choate (1830-1920), lawyer, founder of Choate School for Boys * Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917), lawyer, American Ambassador to Great Britain * Col. Benjamin William Crowninshield (1837-1892), Civil War colonel * Capt. Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (1727-1851), 5th United States Secretary of Navy * Francis Welch "Frank" Crowninshield (1872-1947), Creator and Editor of Vanity Fair and Vogue Magazines * Frederic Crowninshield (1845-1918), 1st President of the National Society of Mural Painters, Director of the Art Academy of Rome * Capt. Jacob Crowninshield (1728-1808), U.S. Representative, brought the first elephant to America from Calcutta, India * Capt. George Crowninshield, Sr. (1734-1815), merchant prince, Founder of George Crowninshield & Sons * Capt. George Crowninshield, Jr. (1766-1808), designer of Americas first yacht, Cleopatra's Barge, sailed the first American yacht across the Atlantic and back to Boston, Massachustts * Capt. John Crowninshield (1728-1766), very wealthy sea captain ("merchant prince") * Elias Hasket "King" Derby (1739-1799), "merchant prince," had a net worth over $800,000 * Capt. Richard Derby (1712-1783), very wealthy sea captain "merchant prince" * Gardiner Greene (1753-1832), merchant prince * Col. Elias Hasket (1670-?), 11th Governor of the Bahamas * William Hubbard (1594-1670), pilgrim father, one of America's first historians * Gov. John Leverett (bapt. 1616-c1678), major general of the Massachusetts Militia, 19th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony * George Morton (c1594-1670), pilgrim father, early American historian * Perez Morton (1751-1837), Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representative, 17th Massachusetts Attorney General * Col. Timothy Pickering (1745-1829), 2nd U.S Post Master General, 2nd U.S. Secretary of War, 3rd U.S. Secretary of State * Col. David Putnam (1707-1768), American Revolutionary War colonel * Maj. Gen. Israel Putnam (1718-1790), killed the last wolf in Connecticut, American Revolutarion War maj. gen. * Edmund Rice (c1594-1663), pilgrim father, member of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts, a founder and Representative of Sudbury, Massachusetts, said to be the first person living in Watertown, Massachusetts * Maj. Gen. Robert Sedwick (c1611-1656), 1st Governor General of Jamaica, Commander of the American Colonial Armies * Col. Epes Sargent (1690-1762) , colonel of the militia in Gloucester, Massachusetts * Col. Henry Sargent (1770-1845) , painter, colonel of the militia in Gloucester, Massachusetts * Col. Paul Dudley Sargent (bapt.1745 - 1828), a founding overseer of Bowdin Colege * Lt. Col. John Sargent (1750 - 1824) * Col. James Swan (1754-1830) , merchant prince, financier, bailed out America to the French debt with his own money * Dep. Gov. Samuel Symonds (1595 - 1678), Deputy Governor of Massachusetts European Imperial * Sigismund of Luxemburg, Holy Roman Emperor (1368 - 1437) * Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459 - 1519) Royal * Stephen V of Hungary (1239 - 1272) * Edward III of England (1312 - 1377) * Robert III of Scotland (1337 - 1406) * John I of Castile (1358 - 1390) * Ferdinand I of Aragon (1380 - 1416) * Edward I of Portugal (1391 - 1438) * Albert II of Germany (1397 - 1439) * Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland (1427 - 1492) * John of Denmark (1455 - 1513) * Henry VII of England (1457 - 1509) Nobility Germany Princes House of Ascania Counts * Bodo VIII, Count von Stolberg-Wernigerode (1467 - 1538) * William I, Count von Nassau-Dillenburg (1487 - 1559) * Siegmund Seyfried, Count von Promnitz-Pless (1595 - 1654) * Albrecht VII, Count von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1537 - 1605) * Wolfgang Dietrich, Count von Castell-Remlingen (1641 - 1709) * Heinrich XXIX, Count von Reuss-Ebersdorff (1699 - 1747) World War II Bradlee was in the Navy in the South Pacific Theater as a CI Officer, an intelligance officer. He faught from 1942 - 1945 and was in a totall of thirteen battles including the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which was the largest Naval battle in Naval history. The battles that he faught in were: the First Battle of Tulagi, Battle Vella Lavella; Guadalcanal Campaign: Battle of Henerson Field, Naval Battle of Guadalcanall; Philippines Campaign: Battle of Letye Gulf, also known as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, Battle of Mindoro, Battle of Manila, the Battle of Surigao Straits, Invasion of Lingayen Gulf; Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign: Battle of Saipain, Battle of Tinian and the Battle of Guam. He was on nine different dystroyers through the course of the war and was awarded the Bronze Star for driving his dystroyer through enemy lines, but he turned it down because he told his captain that "I was just doing my job." At the end of the war when Kamikazes came into play, Bradlee wrote in his book, there was a Kamikaze that got so close to his ship the Bradlee remembers seeing the pilots face. Career After the war Bradlee started his own newspaper called the Sunday Times in New Hampshire. His father, Frederick new a lot of wealthy and established people and set up a lot of interview for his son Ben. Bradlee had a job interview in Baltimor, but it was raing so hard that he descided to stay on the buss and go directly to Washington to the his interview at the Washington Post. Bradlee's son Quinn sais that if he had gotton off the buss and gone to his interivew that Quinn would not have ever been born or any of Ben's other children. Bradlee has interviwed and met many famous and infamous people such Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro. Bradlee was also the Press Atache in Paris during the 50's and was expelled by the French Government for talking with the Afghans. However he was invited back to Paris and in about 2003 was made a Chevalier by the French. His mother Josephine was also made a Chevalier for starting an orphanage during the War, where European mothers would send their children to protect them from the Nazis. Bradlee actually had just a head shot in Play Girl Magazine and was voted in the top ten most gorgeous men in America. Descendants *Chevalier Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee *Jean Saltonstall **Benjamin Crowninshield "Ben" Bradlee, Jr. **Martha Raditz ***Gretta Bradlee **Jan Saragoni ***Joseph Saragoni Bradlee ***Anna Saragoni Baldini Bradlee *Antoinette "Tony" Pinchot **Dominick "Dino" Bradlee **Leslie Marshall ***Josephine Antoinett Pinchot "Jo" Bradlee ***Beatrice "Bea" Bradlee ***Marshall Crowninshield Bradlee **Trina Chambers ***Frederick Bradlee ***James Bradlee **Marina Bradlee *Sally Sterling Quinn **Quinn Josiah Crowninshield Bradlee See Also The Bradlee Family References Books *A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures; By Benjamin C. Bradlee *Yours in Truth: A Personal Portrait of Ben Bradlee * Finding Magic, A Spiritual Memoir, by Sally Quinn * A Different Life: Growing Up Learning Disabled and Other Adventures, by Quinn Bradlee * Father's and Sons: A Life's Work, by Quinn and Ben Bradlee * Newspapering and Other Adventures, by Ben Bradlee * Conversations with Kennedy, by Ben Bradlee Google Books * Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2014 * The Powers That Be, by David Halberstam, P. 537 Internet *Wikipedia.com *Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award *Bradlee Recieves Lifetime Achievment Award *Receptionist of the Legion d'Honneur *The Bradlees: father and son. Just as Ben Jr. was starting his career as a journalist, a movie about Watergate was making Ben Sr. the most famous editor in America *Ben Bradlee, legendary Washington Post editor, dies at 93 *Ben Bradlee, Washington Editor and Watergate Warrior, Dies at 93 *Post Script: Benjamin C. Bradlee (1921 - 2014) *Washington Post's Ben Bradlee dies *Ben Bradlee, Who Led 'Washington Post' to New Heights, Dies At 93 *Something About Sally (Vanity Fair) *The Red Flag in the Flowerpot *In his own words: Ben Bradlee on liars *OurFamTree.org *Jean. S. Hausssermann, social worker, former debutante *'Charisma and courage' *The Famous People *IMBb.com *Ben Bradlee, at 93 hard-charging journalist guided Watergate coverage *Ben Bradlee, legendary Washington Post executive editor during Watergate era, dies at 93 *Ben Bradlee, Top Washington Post Editor During Watergate, Dies at 93 *Ben Bradlee Through the Years *Ben Bradlee, legendary Washington Post Executive Editor, dead at 93 *Ben Bradlee dies at 93; Washington Post editor led Watergate coverage *Ben Bradlee dies at 93 *Archives of Maryland *Ben Bradlee's Not Such "A Good Life" *NNDB.com *Watergate Editor Ben Bradlee Dies at 93 *The Famous People